translation help? (w/ pics)

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#1 Post by **suetemi** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 11:01 pm

Hi all,

The first oral surgeon I've consulted with mailed me a write-up after the initial exam, and it included some things I don't quite understand. For example:

"Posterior crossbite, and on the left side has a 4mm anterior open bite and 4-5mm overjet"

Can an openbite/overjet be on only one side?? That sounds strange! Does it mean my open/over bite is lopsided?

"Chin is flat and retrognathic"

Retrognathic means lower jaw is shorter, right. But what does a flat chin mean exactly? Flat from the side view or front view?

"Mandibular hypoplasia, relative transverse maxillary discrepancy"

Um...huh? I looked up mandibular hypoplasia which is apparently underdeveloped jaws. But what's the other thingy mean?

#2 Post by **suetemi** » Sat Feb 10, 2007 10:28 am

Thanks, Meryaten. As you suggested, I snapped some pics of my grotesque over/open/crossbite. Warning: hideous malocclusion ahead. My lower jaw is definitely set back as I have a slightly receded chin. The open bite is bad, but when viewed from the front it's not so obvious because of the 5mm overjet. Viewed from the side or from below, it's very obvious. I'm going to a second OS consult next week.

#3 Post by **suetemi** » Sat Feb 10, 2007 5:18 pm

Thanks again for the reply. I've got a chin, it's just sunk back a bit. During my teenage years my mom gave me so much grief over my neck fat, pointing out how I always had a band of fat under my chin and she would try to get me to lose weight to get rid of it. Ten years later, my mom accompanied me to the orthodontist, who said my lack of jaw definition due to the short jaw caused it to look like I had neck fat. My mom felt bad after that, I think.

#4 Post by **smile2006** » Sun Feb 11, 2007 5:31 am

Hey there-

I had a 5-6 mm anterior open bite (it was slightly larger on the left than right) that was corrected last July through a LeForte 1 (with widening of the palate at the same time) and a lower jaw advancement of 8mm. I also did genioplasty to keep my chin in line with the jaw movement and improve my profile. My open bite looked much like yours without the overbite. In fact, prior to surgery the ortho "fared" my upper teeth to create somewhat of an overbite. When the upper jaw is done there is an autoration at the joint which then drops the upper teeth into line. So my guess is you overbite is a good thing!!!! The thought of doing the surgery was initally very daunting but I'm so pleased with my results and being able to bite and chew things I never could before. Plus, I like my new appearance and the bad headaches I was getting related to tense facial muscles because of jaw strain prior to surgery are gone. My speech is also top notch again because my teeth/jaws are in a position to create the correct seal for all words (I'm a professor and this mattered to me). So go for it, I think you'll be happy with the results.

PS- I always mix up overbite and overjet....the ortho created flared my teeth out, not down.

#5 Post by **jadeli** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 9:21 am

I'm not familiar with any of the technical terms, so I can't really offer you any help with what any of them mean. But I have to say, I looked at your pictures, and I thought I was looking at my own mouth! Your bite looks almost identical to mine! I have an open bite too, and I'm getting surgery for it in about a week.

#6 Post by **suetemi** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 1:27 pm

Let us know how your surgery goes, jadeli. Do you know what kind of procedure(s) you're having done?